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So I thought I have the healthiest possible little 13-year-old - still trialing at her full height, jogging with us, climbing mountains, endless energy and enthusiasm... But then I caught her licking her nose one day after waking up... And spotted one little drop of blood... - that turned our lives upside down...

Unlike as with other symptoms, there aren't very many reasons for a blood drop from a nose unfortunately... So we scheduled a CT and it showed even bigger tumour in her nose that we feared... To treat or not to treat dilemma was over very fast as it turned out to be extremely aggressive and fast growing and within the time we were waiting for biopsy results, she went from no symptoms to loud breathing and sneezing attacks... And just over night, she got face asymmetry and I knew we need to treat it and that we need to treat it fast, so we packed it all up and drove to Switzerland as they have the most precise and efficient machines for radiation.

The 2nd CT showed the tumour broke the bone and escaped from nasal cavity meantime, so we started with radiation immediately and since biopsy came back positive for mastocytoma (VERY unusual for a nose tumour though...) also with chemo as it must be a very aggressive one to grow so fast...

She is handling it all as a champion. Being able to handle everything, from a broken bone to daily anesthesia, radiation and chemo, with a big smile on her face, with a wagging tail and the same endless appetite and enthusiasm is just as amazing as everything La has done in her life. She might not have the best immune system - but she does have the best attitude. Any worry she might have and any sneezing attack she gets can be stopped immediately by showing her a piece of kibble - have to love her food motivation again and again! She leaves me with no doubts that decision for treatment was a correct one and she gives me hope that she can make impossible possible one more time.

Median survival times of dogs with nasal tumors make you cry. The 3 factors that make it even worse is age over 10 years, epistaxis and bone deformation. And we've got it all... 🙁 But what statistics doesn't know is that we've also got unlimited amount of enthusiasm, passion and love to live, play, run and eat. As I always say - never believe the books - listening to your dog is what can tell you more as any book can. And what I hear La saying is that she feels 3 years old rather as 13.

La is my little fighter - she always loved fighting dogs, rules, myths, general truths - and her own prognosis. So don't say you are sorry. We went through a crying and feeling sorry stage. But now we put our fighting caps back on. So just wish us luck that we can win again, even against such a tough concurrent. I guess we'll just need to fight harder. Just one more record La, just one more! You have always been a record-setter, so I'm sure you can do it again! I promise to keep making you fat! - And make sure to give you plenty of reasons to flight for.

La this Sunday, after 8 radiation treatments, 2 chemo treatments and 10 anesthesias in last 3 weeks, sometimes 2 per day... We have 2 more radiations to go, but since the tumour started degenerating and is releasing histamine, we need to wait for her to feel better again and then we're going back to Zurich one more time.

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Silvia Trkman is known for bringing every dog, from her first dog on, to the very top of the sport. Her dogs are known for great speed, tight turns, running contacts and long and injury-free careers. Silvia is in agility since 1992 and is

– 3x World Champion (with two different dogs)

– 5x European Open winner, with 4 different dogs (Lo, La, Bu, Le)!!!
– National Championships podium and World Team member with every dog she’s ever had
– National Champion for 22-times (with 5 different dogs of 3 different breeds)

– World Team member for 19-times (mostly with at least two dogs at the time – sometimes four 🙂 )